The Duffer Brothers' smash hit Netflix series Stranger Things took audiences by storm and introduced them to a new (and old, very old) form of visual storytelling. We were immediately sucked into the world where, on the surface, life was everything we know it to be - kids riding bikes, boys chasing girls, and parents trying to reel it all in and keep up. But around each corner was some kind of clouded mystery that -- beautifully delivered with visual hat tips to '80s filmmakers -- is meant to be explored by our Magellan-style main (children) characters simply in search of discovering something new.
With this supernatural setup, we get a fully developed piece of storytelling that transcends normal narratives and character arcs, but puts a hard stamp on modern day pop culture by making us want to relive some of these moments we had as children.
Cinematic Homage
Immediately upon watching Stranger Things, we think of E.T., Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Last Starfighter, and more. I can honestly say these films helped shape my childhood and how I viewed the world around me. As my mother held me in her arms telling me E.T. was not going to die, I felt a pain I had not ever felt before. These movies and they way they were deliveredonscreen affected children during this time period.
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